A volunteer poll worker in Ohio noticed something interesting on a signature poll book: her deceased neighbor appeared on the active voter list. The kicker? Her neighbor died 14 years ago.
The worker, Linda Zgoda, has volunteered at various polling places in Hamilton County for the last 20 years.
"I feel like I have to have honest elections, you have to have good officials," Zgoda told WEWS-TV. "I feel like it's a civic responsibility for people to work at the polls."
Zgoda said she noticed her neighbor was on the roll sheet. That's when she began to dig.
"I'm concerned that by someone being on the rolls, someone could improperly vote in their name," she said.
Zgoda contacted the Hamilton County Board of Elections about her discovery. She was told that the deceased's family member needed to provide the Board of Elections with a death certificate to have the name removed from the roster.
Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland told WEWS that the Board investigated further and eventually removed the person's name from the voter list. She also said no one tried voting under Zgoda's neighbor's name during the time he or she was on the active roster.
According to Poland, there are about 790 voters in Hamilton County whose date of birth or identification are missing from their file. She said that's because they registered to vote when that information was not a requirement. Hamilton County is currently working to obtain more information from those voters whose information is missing in their file.
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